The only way: TOWIE will be the flagship programme for new ITV channel ITVBe

Published: 12 February 2014

Updated: 12:28, 12 February 2014

The Only Way is Essex is to become the flagship programme on a new free channel to be launched by ITV towards the end of this year.

ITVBe is aimed at the “younger, female audience” and will be wholly funded through advertising and sponsorship. Chief executive Adam Crozier said the move was part of his plan to make ITV “the most-watched, most-loved and most-talked-about family of free and pay channels”.

Speedy Hire warns of international slip

Speedy Hire, the tools firm rocked by accounting irregularities in its international division, today warned that trading in that division is running behind expectations.

It said the UK business had seen a 3.3% rise in revenues in the past five months. An independent investigation into the accounting problems, launched last November, is near completion, it added. The shares fell 1p to 64p.

Prada sales figures get handbagged

Italian luxury goods company Prada missed analysts’ sales forecasts in the year to January, it said today.

The maker of prestige handbags, shoes and Miu Miu dresses said sales grew by 9% to 3.59 billion (£2.99 billion), hurt by economic weakness in Europe and the strength of the euro against other currencies. European sales grew just 5%, sales in Asia and the Americas by 11% each, and in Japan by 24%.